Anyone around - URGENT help required breastfeeding

[Gomez]

DD2 6 days old, having a nightmare day anyone around to help right now?

Thanks

whats the problem

hit me with it...

Engorged breasts - have hand-expressed, AVENT expressed, had a bath hot shower etc. Have managed to soften them up and got nipples reasonable. DD2 will then latch on, suck 2/3 times and then come of again. Same both breasts, tried expressing more to make softer still not improvment. Same result, few sucks, much screaming, being going on since about 4.30pm.

Any ideas?

Try to make sure that she is latched on correctly. Sounds like she may be frustrated by not getting milk, and so stops sucking. Also maybe you could try changing positions and see if that helps. Sorry, I'm no expert, the only ones of mine I had no prob. with were No.s 1 and 5.

Thanks Zaphod - was kinda thinking it might be the opposite as to be honest the milk is flowing easily. I would be happy if she would even just lap at it now.

Could it be too fast/too much for her do you think if I have expressed too much?

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Thanks essbee - DH is pacing the floor winding as we speak before we go back for round 412 (or at least that is what is feels like)...

I just feel that she has got her self into so much of a tissy now (as have I to be fair which she must be picking up on) that we just need to get her to sleep for even 30 minutes to try and calm things down, but of course she is starving so won't. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

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Okay off to try again but please if anyone has any ideas post them as I am sure I will be back later.

Cheers

Have you tried holding her in 'bag pipe' position ie if feeding at right breast then baby tucked under your right arm (and vice versa)? The different position may help.

If you are worried about her getting too little milk because she is not feeding well, could you try with a 'cup'( best with special baby ones from hospital but I found in past that the little cups that sometimes come with medicine work ok too)as a temporary measure? Wrap her in a towel (or shawl) with her hands inside and hold lip of cup against her bottom lip so that she can lap the milk.

Could she have reflux? Pain would come pretty quickly especially if you feel your milk is flowing well.

Hope you find answer soon.....it can be so upsetting for you both.

Take care.

butterfly

Meant to say - if you try cup, do not pour the milk into baby's mouth yourself. Hold it gently in position and allow her to lick or lap. Keep it in position if possible even when resting for burps.

This is exactly what ds did - for about the first two weeks. In hindsight, probably because my boobs were enormous and he was tiny (and probably suffering one hell of a headache after forceps!) I realise now that it was a bit like asking him to suck the air out of a spacehopper! So, considering how little milk they actually take at this point, maybe it is worth expressing a bit more to make sure milk comes out easily? That said, maybe the milk is coming out too quickly and that is what is distressing your dd? (Sorry, not being much help, am I?)

Also - and don't want to get too personal - but if you have quite flat nipples make sure you pump first to help "bring them out of themselves". I had this problem and used nipple shields for a week as it seemed to help ds get a grip! Then, once he started to get the hang of things, I dumped them.

Also have you eaten anything in the last day that could make your milk taste different (curry/Thai for instance?) Might be a cause for complaint . Also, I have been told that around day 4 - 6 around is when your hormones wear off and the babies kick in, and that it invariably causes the day (and night) from hell.

Would definitely also play around with positions also. Remember many babies don't get breastfeeding straight away - the important thing is to try not to get too stressed. It took ds blooming ages and I was at the point of giving up when he finally got the knack. Ended up bf for a year - probably why ds regularly tells me how much he "loves my boobies" - he's 4. Very sweet - except when we are in public.

ditto butterflymum re cup feed - had to do that with ds in hospital several times.

Good luck - hope you get some sleep!

Thanks ladies - have just resorted to some Aptamil after a digusting night! (Thank heavens for 24 Hour Tescos)

Have comepletely lost the ability to latch her on, nipples are now in tatters - all in all a bloody disaster.

MW due later this morning so can only hope that she can help.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Gomez - rather than your midwife, could you try phoning a breastfeeding counsellor - they do give much better advice generally. SOme will even come and assess you at home if they need to.

Try :

NCT - 0870 444 8708
La Leche - 0845 120 2918
Association of Breastfeeding Mothers - 020 7813 1481
Breastfeeding Network - 0870 900 8787

Your midwife might be good but some of them don't know a lot about breastfeeding and might not be able to give the specialist help you sound like you need.

All the best and hope you manage to get it sorted soon and get back to feeding happily.

Thanks Susanmt - you were without a doubt correct, MW was fairly useless. I have, I believe just left a message on the NCT Helpline (although not convinced as it seemed to cut me off at the end.)

We are both slightly calmer but still no further forward than we were last night - she appears to latch on okay again, will have a few sucks, you can hear the milk hitting the back of her throat then she stops sucking, will lie still for a few minutes well for as long as the milk will flow into her mouth and then appears to drop off to sleep - but this only lasts for as long as she is on my lap/in my arms. Have had wet nappies and one dirty one but there is no way she is getting enough milk.

My boobs are still engorged and one is starting to get a bit red and v. hot so I know that I need to get it clear soon.

Is it worth trying another full on express to try and get things clear - but I am apprehensive about stimulating too much production. Any other ideas??

Thanks,

Hello

If she gets in a bit of a state, just try calm her down before trying again, have you inside her mouth to seeif she has thrush, little white raised spots on the roof of her mouth, this could make it painful for her to suck.

She could have trapped wind, lie her on her back and gently stretch her legs in and out very slowlym this can sometimes release any trapped wind.

Hope it helps, 6 weeks is so young and sometimes it can take a while for them and you to get used to it all, soon she will know your boobs better than you

What part of the country are you in Gomez? (can offer idea of fab breatsfeeding cunsellor in S London....but otherwise am no help!)

In Scotland Blu - but it was a nice thought.

I am going for the express it all off and start again route - which I sure is not the right thing to do but I really can't think of anything else.
Hopefully if boobs get back to a more realistic size then latch will return and I will just need to feed her v. often over next few days to ensure we don't build up again.... Sounds logical to me but I am sure there will be a flaw in the plan somewhere.

Wish me luck and thanks again for your ideas/advice.

Cheers

Just to say good luck, Gomez, and I hope you can find a way round this. I do remember DS becoming very distressed in a similiar sounding way, and I think it was because too much milk was spurting into his mouth. The MW suggested I feed him lying on my back with him on top....which didn't work at all. In the end I expressed before he started to get hungry for a feed. Take care of yourself xxx

Gomez- I had a terrible time with BF at the beginning (still v hard now) and found the community MWs no use at all, as they gave contradictory advice. I got help from the BF support midwife at the hospital where I had the baby. Sometimes they are called infant feeding specialist or something like that. There's also a breastfeeding initiative in Glasgow, if that's near you. Hang on in there. I know what its like to feel REALLY desperate about all this BF stuff!!!

I think half the problems was my complete complacancy about the whole thing as I fed DD1 with no problems what so-ever and assumed it would be the same this time! Doh .

Bye

Gomez, poor you. I remember having bad engorgement with ds (after I had fed dd1 with no bother at all) and it was hard to figure out why - I resoned it away that my boobs were better at milk production 2nd time round.

Have you tried releiving the engorgement without expressing - standing in a hot shower and letting the milk run out, lying in the bath with hot flannels on your boobs, anything to make them a bit less red and hard. Apart from that, I think the expressing it all out sounds like a good idea, because you have to keep yourself comfortable, and deal with any engorgemetn before it gets worse.

I'm in Scotland too, but unless you're in the Outer Hebrides I can't come round and help - wish I could just give you a wee break!

What a difference an afternoon makes .

NCT called back and spoke through my hold/latch/positioning etc. Suggested that I move my 'guide' hand so that it was only on DD's shoulders and not as I had it with a bit on her head. BINGO - she calmed right down at next attempt and fed like a trouper without pulling away or messing about. I can only presume that she didn't like the restrictive feel and as we got more uptight yesterday I was probably making it worse and worse by being determined to get it right.

I have also expressed off a full bottle (quite impressive on day 6 I thought) from the worst boob, which whilst still very full and lumpy helped considerably and removed the red patches. DD has since fed from there too which had also helped plus another 2 good feeds from the other boob. I still have gallons of milk flowing copiously but at least DD is actually getting some of it now .

One more question, I realise that now that I have got her feeding well again I need keep on top of this and feed more often - how do you wake and then make interested in feeding a baby who would perhaps have slept on? Without just making them grumpy. I never woke DD1 to feed her so have no experience of this.

Once again thanks

Saw this earlier but had no advice to offer on top of that already here but am glad you are happier about it all now. You are possibly right about her picking up on your tension.

ds had jaundice so we had to wake him for feeds in the early days - used to blow on his head gently, tickle around ears, undress him a layer and change nappy. Don't remember him ever being grumpy when he got a cuddle and milk out of it .

Hope you have a better night tonight.